Another Day, Another Horseman
by TheSandwichGhost
Summary: Deku encounters a strange individual that has otherworldly powers. Will everything change? Will the students find a solution to a seemingly impossible problem? Maybe. (A My Hero Academia short story. Also it gets kinda weird. Rated M for foul language.)


Decided to get back into writing. Gonna try to stick with just short stories for now. Had this strange idea for a story and decided to just throw it out there and see if anyone likes it. Reviews, comments, and constructive criticism are greatly appreciated.

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A peaceful day in the city. The sun was shining, birds were chirping, and a group of teenagers was taking the day off. Class 1-A had a few days of free time and everyone was more than happy to kick back and relax after the sports festival. After spending their first day mostly lounging around and recuperating a group of the young heros had decided on spending their second day in the city. Izuku (Deku) Midoriya, Ochako Uraraka, Minoru Mineta, Momo Yoayorozu,Mina Ashido, Tenya Lida, and Eijiro Kirishima walked together chatting with each other happily. Dressed in a variety of casual clothes, the teenagers had already stopped at a mobile crepe stand for a snack, and now were on their way to a popular department store to do some shopping.

This part of the day had been insisted upon by the girls and the boys were reluctantly tagging along under the impression that the girls would help them pick out some good looking outfits. Deku was feeling great and hoping that he would not embarrass himself in front of the girls (particularly Ururaka) by picking out lame looking clothes.

Laughing at a joke Eijiro mentioned involving All-Might and an ice cream truck, Deku looked down to realize one of his shoe laces was untied. "Give me a sec guys, I will catch up." As his friends walked on, Deku bent down to tie his shoe when something shiny glinted on the ground nearby. Quickly tying his shoe, Deku reached over and picked up the small silver coin that had been reflecting sunlight into his eye.

Standing up, Deku held the coin up to his face for closer inspection. One side featured a single sword while the other side contained the number one. Deciding it was simply a cool looking coin, Deku put the coin in his pocket and jogged back up to his friends.

Momo had her smartphone in hand and was in the process of showing Mina some pictures of clothes. "So what do you think Ashido? Think we can make Lida wear these when we get there?"

Mina giggled and looked over at Tenya who was making sure everyone did not cross the street until the light said so. "Maybe, he might be a little tall for those pants though."

After crossing the street the teenagers walked a few more blocks until arriving at a big multi-level trendy department store. Making their way inside the girls immediately began picking and comparing clothes as the boys awkwardly stood nearby and tried to act casual.

"So uhh...you guys bring some cards or somethin?" The boys looked at Eijiro with confused looks on their faces, making the red haired boy sigh and shrug. "I'm just tryin to make conversation. What else are we gonna do while we wait?"

Tenya adjusted his glasses with one hand while the other grabbed Minoru's collar, yanking the small pervert away from the women's undergarment aisle. "We could study! What was the date of All-Might's first official appearance?"

Deku was about to immediately answer when he felt a slight gust of hot wind on the back of his neck. Looking around curiously at what might have caused the hot air, Deku saw a figure disappear behind a nearby rack of shoes. While it was only for a moment, Deku could have sworn that the face of the person was nothing but a bare skull. His hero instincts on high alert, Deku looked back at the other boys who were arguing over some inane topic. Deciding to investigate himself, Deku slowly walked over to the shoe rack and peeked around the corner.

The mysterious figure was walking away from him but Deku could see that the person wore a black leather jacket, jeans, and a pair of combat boots. The figure turned down another aisle and disappeared from sight, making Deku all the more curious, but still wary of what might be happening. Acting as nonchalant as he could, Deku walked down to where he saw the figure last and glanced down the aisle.

The mystery person stood at the other end of the aisle with his back to Deku while he examined a pair of sunglasses. Seeing nothing wrong, Deku shrugged off his gut-feeling as paranoia and was about to return to his friends when something caught his eye. As the black haired figure adjusted his jacket Deku briefly saw the unmistakable shape of a knife in the man's pocket and a holstered pistol concealed inside the jacket.

Quickly stepping back, Deku took a few deep breaths and forced himself to calm down. "Okay calm down, don't confront him. Get back to everyone, tell them what I saw, then get the building evacuated." Nodding to reassure himself, Deku quickly walked back the way he came and rounded a corner to find the mystery figure blocking his path.

Up close Deku could see that the man was actually more youthful than he first appeared. If anything he looked like he was only a little older than Deku himself. Short and uncombed black hair, lightly tanned skin, yellow teeth, and bright orange eyes gave the teenager a dangerous look as he smiled cheekily at Deku. "Hey there bud. Goin somewhere?"

Gulping down his apprehension, Deku tried to act clueless and bluff his way out. "Umm..no..I mean yes! To the shoes..I need some new shoes."

The older teen rolled his hellish orange eyes then gave Deku a deadpan look. "Cut the shit dude we both know you been followin me. Now the question is what am I gonna do with you?"

Seeing no other options, Deku adopted a fighting stance and hoped his voice was loud enough that his friends would hear him. "Please step back! Put your weapons on the floor and put your hands in the air! I am...I am a hero and I do not want to have to hurt you!"

The dangerous looking teenager gave Deku a blank look and after a few seconds of silence burst out laughing. "Oh man! Holy fuckin shit that is good! I literally have never heard someone call themselves a hero! That is some grade-A bullshit!" Wiping his eyes, the strange teenager pulled the combat knife out of his pocket and pointed the tip of the blade at Deku. "What is your name kid?"

Deku frowned, but out of the corner of his eye noticed through spaces in the shelves the red hair of Eijiro moving closer. Trying to stall for time, Deku stood his ground and locked eyes with the armed teenager. "My name is Izuku..Izuku Midoriya."

The knife wielding teen smiled and twirled the combat knife with his fingers. "Izuku huh? Well my name is Krieg. Nice to meet ya." Hearing his friends footsteps behind him, Deku smiled and looked back towards his friends. "I knew you guys would hear me! Careful he is armed!"

Eijiro, Tenya, and Minoru all gave Deku strange looks and cautiously stepped forward.

"Umm...who is armed Midoriya?" Minoru talked to Deku like someone would a confused child and Deku whipped his head back forward only to see an empty aisle in front of him.

His face falling into disbelief, Deku looked around frantically. "I swear he was just right in front of me! Tall, maybe eighteen years old, wearing a leather jacket! We need to evacuate the building!" Turning around to face his friends, Deku could see the looks they were giving each other, like people would when confronted with someone who was hallucinating.

"Sure man, lets just go sit down a minute and clear your head okay?" Eijiro slowly guided Deku back to where the girls were as the green haired hero spluttered and tried to appeal to Tenya.

"Lida I am not crazy! Please believe me!"

Frowning at Deku's pleading, Tenya sighed and absentmindedly yanked Minoru away from the undergarment aisle. "I would like to believe you, but the facts are nobody else saw this...intruder. The only way out of that aisle were either end and we all would have at least seen a glimpse of someone had they actually been there. Maybe you just need some more rest."

By this point the girls had returned and Eijiro quickly explained the situation. After some discussion, everyone was in agreement that Deku might have been hit in the head a little too hard during the sports festival.

Ochako looked conflicted during the entire process and every so often tried to add some sort of support for Deku. Eventually it was decided to continue with the shopping trip and try to help Deku though whatever he was dealing with.

The next twenty minutes passed in a blur as Deku did his best to forget what he saw and enjoy spending time with his friends. Hearing his name being called, Deku snapped out of his daze and walked over to Mina who was holding several colorful dresses.

"Hey Midoriya! Can ya give these to Ururaka? Thanks!" Before Deku could even respond Mina had shoved the dresses into his hands and zoomed away down a different aisle.

Sighing in resignation, Deku hesitantly made his way over to the nearby changing rooms and coughed awkwardly. "Umm...Ururaka? Ashido said you wanted some more dresses?" There was a clatter as something fell in the dressing room and then a thump followed by some muffled swearing.

The door opened slightly and Deku could see part of Ochako's face as she held out a hand. "T-thanks. Sorry for making you do this."

Blushing slightly, Deku nodded and quickly handed the dresses to Ochaco. "I-it's no problem."

Somehow in the process of grabbing the dresses and trying to stay hidden, the door sprung open to reveal Ochaco in a daring red bikini.

The two teenagers froze as they both looked at each other until Ochaco turned a bright red and slammed the door closed as Deku flushed bright red and averted his eyes.

"I'm sorry! I didn't see anything I swear!" Blurting out an apology, Deku ran away as Mina and Momo poked their heads out from their hiding places and gave each other a thumbs-up.

Turning blindly down a random aisle, Deku froze when he was once again face to face with a grinning Krieg. "Sup shitbird, man that girl was rockin that bikini huh?"

Deku opened and closed his mouth silently trying to straighten out his jumbled thoughts, until finally coming to his senses. Jumping back, Deku frantically looked around for any of his friends as Krieg flipped his knife in the air several times and caught it.

"At first I thought this place was borin, but that pink girl and the little fucktard with tumors on his head sure are weird lookin. So it seems this wasn't a waste of my time after all."

Confused at what Krieg was talking about, Deku spotted a nearby store employee sorting clothes and called out to him. "Umm excuse me! Do you see anyone right next to me?"

The male employee looked over and gave Deku a strange look as he shook his head.

Turning back to face Krieg, Deku felt his head begin to hurt as he tried to figure out what was going on.

Krieg chuckled and walked closer to Deku, stopping close enough for Deku to smell his sulfur-tinged breath. "Aww you a little slow dumbass? C'mon I know you can figure it out, use that big noggin of yours."

Feeling himself start to hyperventilate, Deku stumbled backwards and held his head in his hands. "You aren't real. You are just part of my imagination! Go away!"

In an instant Krieg appeared behind Deku and held his knife up to the young hero's throat. "Mmm I wouldn't say that. If I wasn't real could I do this?"

Deku flinched as Krieg grabbed his hand, the older teen slowly using his knife to put a small cut on Deku's thumb.

Immediately a small drop of blood oozed out from the cut and Deku whirled around to find Krieg had disappeared. The faint smell of sulfur the only hint that he had been there.

Trying not to panic, Deku nearly jumped out of his skin as Tenya tapped him on the shoulder from behind.

"Midoriya the girls said it's your turn. Oh did you cut your thumb?"

Deku felt himself getting nauseous and forced himself to put on a strained smile as he faced Tenya. "Y-yeah, a papercut."

Nodding understandingly, Tenya guided the shaken Deku over to the three girls who were waiting with various pieces of clothing in hand.

Ochaco was still feeling embarrassed from earlier and could barely look at Deku without blushing. This meant that the normally observant girl would miss the signs of Deku's distress.

His head reeling from trying to understand what was going on, Deku numbly followed the instructions of the girls, putting on several different outfits as they all took pictures and good naturedly made teasing remarks.

Forcing himself to calm down, Deku tried to think of any possible explanation to what was happening. Unfortunately Deku was only left with more questions and no answers. Emerging from the changing room, Deku shakily grabbed the clothes he was going to buy when the silver coin fell out of his pocket. The coin bounced once then rolled over and came to a stop near Minoru.

Seeing the shiny coin on the ground, Minoru picked it up and curiously examined it. "Hey you any of you guys lose a coin?"

Seeing the coin, Deku nodded but was too preoccupied to give the coin much thought. "Yeah I found it on the ground when we were walking here. You can have it if you want."

Smiling happily, Minoru pocketed the coin and gave an exaggerated bow to Deku. "Thank you kind sir! Your donation to the bank of Minoru will not be forgotten!"

Giving the small hero a half-hearted smile, Deku followed everyone to the cashiers to buy their clothes.

After buying what they wanted, the group was about to leave when suddenly Minoru let out a high-pitched scream and latched onto Momo's leg.

Peeling the gibbering boy off her, Momo gave Minoru an exasperated look. "What is it now Mineta? You see a big scary spider?"

Leaking tears like a broken faucet, Minoru shook his head and pointed at Deku. "There was some creepy looking guy right behind Midoriya! He..he had orange eyes and had a knife! I swear he was right there!"

Deku immediately looked over his shoulder but saw nothing, putting down his bags. Deku nodded vigorously and knelt next to Minoru. "You saw him too! He had a leather jacket, jeans, yellow teeth, and black hair right?!"

Wiping his eyes with the back of his hand Minoru nodded and looked around like a scared rabbit. "Yeah! Then when I looked back he was gone! Like some kinda ghost!"

Relieved that someone else could see Krieg, Deku nodded and stood up and turned to his friends. "I know it sounds crazy but it is true!"

Everyone looked at each other worriedly until Tenya cleared his throat and put on a heroic pose. "It seems Midoriya and Mineta are being antagonized by some kind of ethereal being! I propose we immediately go back to school and figure out a plan!"

Everyone quickly agreed and left the department store to head back to their dorm. On the trip back, Deku caught glimpses of Krieg everywhere they went. He saw Krieg sitting on a bus, walking across the street, or simply standing out in the open waving ominously.

Eventually the group arrived back at the school dorm and after putting away their purchases gathered in the common room.

"Alright describe this...thing...one more time." Tenya adjusted his glasses as he prepared a notepad and pencil, as Deku sat in a chair with everyone looking at him.

"He is about six feet tall, has orange eyes, gross looking yellow teeth, black hair, lightly tanned skin, smells like sulfur, and was wearing a black leather jacket, red undershirt, and jeans. He was armed with some kind of combat knife and also had what looked like a semi-automatic pistol in an under-arm holster." Deku made sure to give as much detail as possible as Tenya wrote furiously.

The group had been joined by the frog girl Tsuyu Asui, the elemental wielding shoto Todoroki, and the wire girl Kyoko Jiro.

Everything Deku said was verified by a quivering Minoru and soon the group was discussing what Krieg was and how to deal with him.

While everyone talked Deku sighed and rested his chin on his hand. It seemed there was no clear explanation and it was clear that everyone was starting to get frustrated or discouraged.

"Man yall really ain the smartest bunch huh? I mean this fancy as fuck school and yall are about as smart as pigs tryin to fuck a doorknob."

Feeling a chill run down his spine, Deku slowly turned towards the sound of Krieg's voice. The foul-mouthed teen sat in an unoccupied chair near the corner of the room, picking his teeth with the tip of his combat knife and smiling arrogantly.

"Umm..guys...he is here.." Deku kept Krieg in his vision as he tried to get everyone's attention, but the group was in the middle of an argument and nobody heard the nervous Deku.

Of course that all changed when Minoru screamed and dived behind a couch exclaiming "HE IS HERE!"

Everyone looked around frantically to no avail until Shoto turned to Deku. "Where is he Midoriya?!"

Deku shakily pointed a finger at the seemingly empty chair and everyone immediately backed away from it, forming a half circle with Deku in the center.

Leaning forward with an annoyed look on his face, Krieg balanced the tip of his knife on the end of his finger. "Okay now yall are just pissin me off with how fucking stupid this has gotten. Think real hard you green-haired, shrimp-dicked, yellow-bellied, waste of space. What is the one thing you and that tiny lil crybaby both did?"

Deku froze as he racked his head, suddenly sitting up straight and smacking his forehead with the palm of his hand. "The coin!"

Laughing condescendingly, Krieg threw up his arms and cheered. "Fuckin finally! This has been such a fucking pain in the ass to watch!"

Turning around, Deku pointed at Minoru who was peeking over the edge of the couch. Mineta, the coin! Give me the coin!"

Nodding nervously, Minoru fished the silver coin out of his pocket and handed it to Deku. Holding the coin carefully, Deku held it up for everyone to see. "You need to hold this to see him. I know it sounds weird but I swear you will see him if you hold it."

The majority of the group eeyed the coin like a venomous snake, until Shoto walked forward and plucked the coin out of Deku's hand.

Unable to hide the flinch of surprise, Shoto nodded slowly as Krieg smiled and waved. "He is telling the truth. The coin allows you to see him."

Eventually everyone in the group took the coin, their reactions ranging from shrieks of fear to expletives of surprise.

With the coin put in the middle of a table, everyone warily watched Krieg as he looked at them all with contempt. "Well took fuckin long enough, for fucks sake I was bored out of my mind over here."

Shoto frowned and crossed his arms defiantly, looking at Krieg like someone would a dirty rat. "All I see is a foul-mouthed spirit with no class or manners. Learn some respect then you can talk to me."

Arching an eyebrow Krieg slowly stood up as his contempt changed to anger. "Oh I aint no spirit. I am somethin much worse. And I will say shit, fuck, bitch, cunt, or any variety of related words as much as I want. And all I see is little boy actin tough. You learn that kinda talk from daddy?"

Shoto glared at Krieg as everyone stood still, unsure of what was going to happen.

Standing up, Deku held up a placating hand to Shoto and stepped forward. "It's okay Todoroki. Let me handle him."

Huffing angrily, Shoto stepped back as Krieg chuckled. "That's right little boy, just be his bitch and be a good lil doggy."

Glaring at Krieg, Deku faced him and squared his jaw before speaking. "So what do you want? Better yet who are you? Or what are you?"

Krieg grinned and slowly walked forward, causing many of the surrounding teens to back up or step behind a piece of furniture. "What I want huh? What I want is death, destruction, pain, violence, brutality, and many other things like that. That's why yall are here right? Defenders of the weak and helpless and all that bullshit."

Stopping just out of arm's reach, Krieg began to pace back and forth while toying with his knife. "I am here because there is no shortage of all that kinda stuff. People killing their friends for money, superpowered humans beating the shit outta each other, the bystanders getting caught in the middle and getting snuffed out like ants against a boot. This all startin to sound familiar?"

The young heros all looked at each other uncomfortably, but nobody denied what Krieg was saying.

Smiling fiendishly, Krieg waved the tip of his knife at each of the students. "As for who I am...well technically I am not allowed to just go around giving out that kinda personal information...all these stupid fuckin rules honestly suck the fun out of everything. Cmon I know at least one of yall has two brain cells to rub together to figure it out. I am practically spoon-feeding the answer to you. Think real hard ya lil shits."

Everyone looked at each other in confusion until Kyoka picked up the coin and examined it. Silently putting the coin down, Kyoka suppressed an uneasy gulp and spoke softly. Almost too quiet for everyone to hear. "The first horseman of the apocalypse...War."

Krieg laughed loudly as everyone looked at Kyoko in disbelief. "There we fuckin go! Give the lil lady a prize!"

Deku couldn't help but shudder slightly in fear. It all seemed so unreal. Sure talking with an invisible spirit is a weird way to spend the day. But to find out a mythological being was right in front of you was just so outlandish.

Stepping forward bravely Tenya struck a heroic pose and pointed at Krieg. "So you are a villain then! No matter who you are, us heroes have a duty to oppose all those who would seek to bring harm to others!"

Krieg gave Tenya a disbelieving look before bursting out in uncontrollable laughter. "Holy fuckin shit! What a fuckin character!" Tenya looked a little disheartened at Kriegs reaction who was now bent over emitting wheezing laughs.

Surprisingly, Ochaco stepped forward slightly and gripped her hands tightly before speaking. "So...Mister War. Does that mean...does that mean our world is going to end? Is that why you are here?"

Gulping down several breaths of air to calm himself, Krieg straightened up and wiped the tears from his eyes. "Sorta maybe kinda. Though I appreciate the respect, rest of yall could learn from you cute lil friend here." Krieg flopped back down into the chair as the teens all exchanged worried glances or fearful whispers.

Finally Momo spoke up, "can you please be more specific?"

Krieg sighed in annoyance and rolled his eyes before rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Okay fine! If yall really are that concerned over the possible ending of your world I guess I might as well educate yall. But imma only tell ya once so listen carefully!"

After some awkward silence most of the teens found a place to sit and Tenya had even pulled his notebook and pencil back out.

Clearing his throat, Krieg waved his knife around like a teacher and began to speak. "Let's get this outta the way first. Just because yall know me by one name doesn't mean that all other beliefs are wrong. I simply take on a form that most folk easily know. Makes things a lot easier. Now to start off don't all yall go actin like yer special. This world is one of many and my being here simply means things are gonna change. The change could be good, or could be bad. That coin is sorta like an anchor, lets me be able to talk to yall and move around blah blah blah. Now I know what yer thinkin, and if yall try to destroy or get rid of that coin it won't make me go away. So where was I? Oh yeah, end of your world."

Krieg paused and suddenly let out a loud sneeze, kicking his legs up and covering his mouth with his hand. Righting himself, Krieg wiped his hand on his pants and continued. "Scuse me. So I am talkin to yall because you guys are a special bunch. Yall will be part of events that will shape the future of this world. I dunno what exactly the events are, I aint no fortune teller. I simply will stick around to...to expedite the process of making those events happen. This is the part where I say yall are just a tiny piece of the puzzle in the grand scheme of things. So just do what ya normally do. Meanwhile imma go have some fun and do what I do best. I might talk to yall again later, or I yall might never hear from me again...that's it lesson over."

Standing up and stretching, Krieg adjusted his leather jacket while Deku mustered up his courage and spoke up. "You say all this stuff, but how do we know you aren't lying? For all we know you could just have some crazy quirk and are messing with us."

Krieg tapped his chin with the tip of his knife a few times before nodding in agreement. "I can see yer point fucktard, so I will give yall a special lil treat."

Before the students could do anything a wave of shadows spread out from Krieg's feet and enveloped them all in darkness.

Deku found himself frozen and unable to move, simply floating in complete darkness. Suddenly Deku was standing alongside his classmates on top of some kind of building, everyone seemingly frozen like he was. In the distance, giant nuclear mushroom clouds spread over the horizon. Crowds of people below screaming and panicking as a wave of nuclear fire swept over the city and incinerated everything it touched.

Deku could feel his skin burning away and no matter how hard he tried he couldn't scream or do anything. Just when he felt his eyeballs boiling Deku was transported to a new scene.

The class stood in the middle of a street, dead bodies sprawled everywhere and blood and gore coating everything. Down the street clouds of dust could be seen and two figures in superhero costumes could be seen chasing down a man running for his life.

The first hero created a shockwave that blasted the fleeing man from his feet, his arms and legs in shreds with bones poking out from his skin at odd angles. The second hero walked over to the crippled man and in one smooth motion ripped the man in half lengthwise.

The scenes of chaos and destruction began flying by as Deku could only stare with wide eyes. An ocean covered in trash and oil, entire countries going to war with each other, heroes and villains brutally killing each other in titanic battles that levelled cities, and clouds of acid rain melting people as they tried to seek shelter.

The scenes and sensations all began to blur together until finally it all came to a stop. Deku stood alone in the middle of a vast wasteland, the ground completely covered by the bones of the dead. The very air itself felt like it had nothing left to give as a solar eclipse hung in the sky.

Then he appeared.

Deku's mind tried to comprehend the being's true form until finally it slowly took a shape he could understand.

A humanoid creature with charcoal black skin and glowing orange eyes carried a flaming sword, followed close behind by a blood red horse. The creature and horse slowly walked across the land of bones, until the creature wielding the hellish sword stopped and stared at Deku with a piercing gaze.

Then almost like it had never happened, Deku was back in the common room with his friends and classmates.

Krieg stood silently with his arms crossed and an unreadable expression on his face, his knife hanging from a loop in his belt.

Blinking several times, Deku numbly sat down, his legs feeling like they were made of jelly.

As the teenagers all tried to process what they had been shown, Krieg sighed picked up his coin from the table. Putting it in his jacket pocket, Krieg whistled softly as he walked away. Rounding a corner, the harbinger of war disappeared from sight. The only trace of his presence being the faint smell of sulfur.


End file.
